Filling and discharging device for surface finishing machines



I v Dec. 6., 1960 v. BAKALAR ETAL 2,963,280 FILLING AND DISCHARGING DEVICE FOR SURFACE FINISHING MACHINES Filed Nov. 12, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 6, 1960 v. BAKALAI'i ETAL 2,963,280

FILLING AND CHARGING DEVICE FOR SURFACE NISHING MACHINES Filed Nov. 12,1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. Vaiczw fla /afar; BY Lac/119% ZealFe/t FILLING AND DISCHARGING DEVICE FOR SURFACE FINISHING MACHINES Vaclav Bakalai, Ledec, and Ladislav zenisek, Svetla,

Czechoslovakia, assignors to Kovo-Finis, narodni podnik, Ledec nad Sazavou, Czechoslovakia Filed Nov. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 773,472

Claims priority, application Czechoslovakia Nov. 22, 1957 7 Claims. (Cl. 259-3) The present invention relates to a filling and discharg: ing device of machines for the surface treatment of Small articles e.g. by electroplating, degreasing, tumbling with abrasives, and the like.

Various types of machines comprising a bell-shaped vessel have been used up to now for the surface. treatment of small articles. In the older apparatus the bell-shaped vessel is placed in an inclined position and filled with the bath and with the articles to be surface treated. During the electroplating process the vessel remains in its inclined position and is set in rotation. The emptying of the vessel, however, is difficult and tedious because the whole vessel has to be tilted. When thev goods are dis.- charged, the bath is poured out. The operator comes therefore into direct contact with the acid or alkaline baths. Filling or discharging troughs are rarely used in practical operation because they are difficult to handle I and render the production uneconomical.

Recently built machines of this type comprise vessels which are suspended on the edge of a tank and submerged in the bath. The bell-shaped vessel is perforated and the bath has therefore free access to the articles; moreover there is continuous replacement of the bath in the vessel. This arrangement secures a higher productivity in the surface treatment of articles because the quantity of the bath is not limited by the volume of the bell-shaped vessel, but by the volume of the tank, which is several times larger. This simplifies the servicing of the machine, since the size of the bell depends only on the quantity of the goods to, be surface treated. The bell-shaped vessel is driven by an electric motor through suitable gearing, the driving mechanism being mounted on a rockable arm. A drive mounted in this way however interferes with loading of the vessel. Various types of hoppers are therefore used which are usually placed above the driving mechanism. The bell-shaped vessel is emptied into discharge troughs and in some cases the whole vessel has to'be taken out and discharged outside the device. As a rule, however two troughs are used in known machines for the filling and discharging operation, one trough serving for filling the bell-shaped vessel and the other for emptying the latter.

The described arrangements suffer from numerous drawbacks, such as the complexity and costliness of the machines in manufacture. If the hopper is placed above the driving mechanism, it is necessary to raise the vessel, weighing about 15-20 kg. to a great height, when the articles are placed into it. Likewise the discharging of the apparatus by lifting and taking out the whole vessel is objectionable because the operator comes into contact with the acid or alkaline baths which have a detrimental efi'ect on his health.

The present invention aims at substantially overcoming the aforementioned disadvantages. The main feature of the invention resides therein that a single chute is used for filling and discharging the goods, the chute serving both as filling and discharging member.

The accompanying drawingsshow byway ofexampl'e an: embodiment of the device according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows in a side-view, partly in section, the-ma chine with the device according to the invention in its loading position,

Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in section, ona larger scale, showing details of the chute in its loading position i.e. when the vessel has to be filled. Fig. 3 is a side-view, partly-in section, of the bell type apparatus in its discharge position and Fig. 4 is a similar view on alarger scale showing the position of the chute in the unloading position i.e. when thearticles have to be discharged.

The free end of a shaft 2 carriesa bell-shaped vessel or barrel 1 serving for'the electroplating process- The other end of the shaft 2 is journalledin a change speed gear box '3 which carries an electric'motor4forthedrive of the bell-shaped vessel 1. The vessel 1, the shaft 2, the gear box 3 and the electric motor 4 constitute a unit suspended by means of arms 6 on the edge of a tank 12. The unit carried by'the arms 6 is mounted for rocking movement about pivots 1t The distribution of weight of the. bell-shaped vessel 1, shaft 2, gear box 3, electric motor 4 and arms 6 with respect to pivots 10 is such that. the apparatus both in its filling and discharge position. is stable, i.e. is fixed in position without theneed for. any: locking means.

A chute 7 is, mounted for rotation between the arms 6 by means of pivots 8. The. required positioning of the chute 7 with respect to the bell-shaped vessel 1 is achieved by means of a cam mounted. on the chute 7 andprovided with a cam slot 9 engaged by a pin 11 which is secured in a holder 13 fastened to the edge. of they tank 12.

The position of the device during the loading operation is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The spout a. of the chute? is above the free edge of the bell-shaped vessel 1 and this loading position is secured by the engagement of the camslot 9 with the pin 11.

The loading position of the device is also the position in which the surface treatment is carried out.

The discharge or unloading position of the device is. represented in Figs. 3 and 4. The. machine. is. tiltedinto this position by the. operator who grasps the. machine: by

the handle 5. The unit 1, 2, 3, 4 mounted on the arms 6 is thus rotated around the pivots 10 placed on theupper edge of the tank 12.

Simultaneously with the movement of the unit the chute 7 carries out a similar rotary movement, but in addition to the rotary movementv around the. pivots. 10 it. rel s around the pivots 8. This. second. rotary move ment around the. pivots. 8 is produced by theengagcment' of the, pin 11 with the cam slot 9. Thespout a of the chute. moves during this tilting movement along the free edge of the bell-shaped vessel 1, passes the same and in its final position lies below the edge of the vessel 1, as shown in Fig. 4.

We claim:

1. A leading and discharging device for surface finishing machines comprising a bell-shaped vessel for the articles to be surface treated, a driving mechanism for the drive of the vessel forming a unit with the vessel, a tank for the treating liquid, a main pivot secured adjacent the upper edge of the tank, carrying arms mounted for rotation on the main pivot and carrying said unit, pivots fastened in the carrying arms, a chute mounted for tilting movement about said pivots, the end of the chute adjacent the vessel being shaped to form a spout, a cam with a cam. slot secured to the chute and a pin rigidly secured adjacent the upper edge of the tank outside the axis of the main pivot and engaging the cam slot, the spout of the chute lying in the loading position of the latter above the upper edge of the vessel and in the discharging position below the edge of the vessel.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chute is mounted between the arms carrying the vessel.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the weight of the vessel, driving mechanism and of the carrying arms is distributed so that the device is held in stable position by its own weight both in its loading and discharging position.

4. In a barrel arrangement for metal finishing and like treatments, in combination, a support; bracket means mounted on said support for movement between two positions thereof; barrel means adapted to hold objects to be treated, said barrel means being rotatably mounted on said bracket means, and being formed with an opening for loading said barrel means when said bracket means is in one of said positions thereof, and for unloading said barrel means when said bracket means is in the other one of said positions-thereof; chute means having a spout portion facing said barrel means, said chute means being mounted on said bracket means for joint movement therewith, and being movable thereon between two positions relative to said bracket means, said spout portion being below said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in one of the respective positions thereof, and said spout portion being above said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in the other one of said respective positions therof; and actuating means responsive to the movement of said bracket means on said support for actuating movement of said chute means from one to the other of said positions thereof when said bracket means moves from. one to the other of said positions of the latter.

5. In a barrel arrangement for metal finishing and like treatments, in combination, a support; bracket means mounted on said support for pivotal movement between two positions thereof; barrel means adapted to hold objects to be treated, said barrel means being rotatably mounted on said bracket means, and being formed with an opening for loading said barrel means when said bracket means is in one of said positions thereof, and for unloading said barrel means when said bracket means is in the other one of said positions thereof; chute means having a spout portion facing said barrel means, said chute means being mounted on said bracket means for joint movement therewith, and being pivotally movable thereon between two positions relative to said bracket means, said spout portion being below said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in one of the respective positions thereof, and said spout portion being above said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in the other one of said respective positions thereof; and actuating means responsive to the movement of said bracket means on said support for actuating movement of said chute means from one to the other of said positions thereof when said bracket means moves from one to the other of said positions of the latter.

6. In a barrel arrangement for metal finishing and like treatments, in combination, a support; bracket means mounted on said support for movement between two positions thereof; barrel means adapted to hold objects to be treated, said barrel means being rotatably mounted on said bracket means, and being formed with an opening for loading said barrel means when said bracket means is in one of said positions thereof, and for unloading said barrel means when said bracket means is in the other one of said positions thereof; chute means having a spout portion facing said barrel means, said chute means being mounted on said bracket means for joint movement therewith, and being movable thereon between two positions relative to said bracket means, said spout portion being below said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in one of the respective positions thereof, and said spout portion being above said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in the other one of said respective positions thereof; and actuating means having respective portions secured to said chute means and to said support for actuating movement of said bracket means from one to the other of said positions thereof when said bracket means moves from one to the other of said positions of the latter.

7. In a barrel arrangement for metal finishing and like treatments, in combination, a support; bracket means mounted on said support for movement between two positions thereof; barrel means adapted to hold objects to be treated, said barrel means being rotatably mounted on said bracket means, and being formed with an opening for loading said barrel means when said bracket means is in one of said positions thereof, and for unloading said barrel means when said bracket means is in the other one of said positions thereof; chute means having a spout portion facing said barrel means, said chute means being mounted on said bracket means for joint movement therewith, and being movable thereon between two positions relative to said bracket means, said spout portion being below said opening when said bracket means and said chute means are in one of the respective positions thereof, and said spout portion being about References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,532,801 Faber et a1. Apr. 7, 1925 

